STATUS CAPITAL ALLEGES: DAVE BRIBED KEY PLAYERS AT FSRA

MBABANE – Status Capital Building Society has accused Dave Van Niekerk of bribing key players at FSRA.

It is alleged that money was paid to Senzo Hlatshwayo, who is the Chairman of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), and Joel Dlamini, who is a member of the FSRA’s Board of Directors. The Acting Managing Director of Status Capital Building Society, Auto Sibusiso Dlamini, who is also the Head of IT, said the conduct of the FSRA towards the building society was unheard of.

He said it could only be justified by the fact that those running FSRA have allegedly been captured by Niekerk and his associates. He accused them of having ulterior motives and bias against Status Capital. These allegations have been made in an application, in which Status Capital has instituted proceedings against FSRA and the curator, Bimal De Silva, who was appointed by FSRA to manage the affairs of Status Capital.

Operation

In this matter, Status Capital is seeking an order suspending the operation of a directive issued by FSRA on December 10, 2024, directing it (Status Capital) to, with immediate effect, stop performing any further transactions on all its bank accounts without the permission of the regulatory authority. Status Capital also applied for the suspension of the operation of certain conditions placed on its licence by FSRA with immediate effect. The decision of FSRA to appoint a curator for Status Capital, according to the latter, will be of no force and effect, and the curator will have no powers to act or make decisions on behalf of the applicant pending Part B of the application.

In Part B of the application, Status Capital is seeking an order that FSRA’s directive of December 10, 2024, be reviewed and set aside, and it be declared of no force and effect. The building society further prayed that FSRA’s decision to place conditions and restrictions on its (Status Capital) licence be reviewed and set aside and that they be declared of no force and effect. Further, Status Capital wants the court to order that the decision of FSRA of December 17, 2024, to appoint a curator to manage its affairs be reviewed and set aside, and be declared null and void.

In Status Capital’s founding papers, the acting MD stated that the building society will never be able to recoup the monies it is reportedly owed by Swaziland Debt Factoring Firm (Pty) Ltd (SDFF) and Status Asset Management (Pty) Ltd SAM. “As already explained, Mr Van Niekerk is the orchestrator behind the fraud scheme using the aforesaid companies and Ecsponent, and certain individuals at the FSRA are attempting to protect him,” Auto submitted.

Crimes

He told the court that the companies, SDFF and SAM, were allegedly used by Van Niekerk as vehicles and instruments to commit financial crimes. “Mr Van Niekerk stole money from the applicant (Status Capital) using the vehicles of SDFF and SAM. The FSRA is acutely aware of the fact and the involvement of Mr Van Niekerk and his associates. The conduct of Mr Van Niekerk was set out in detail in a report that was produced by Grant Thornton Accountants for the FSRA,” said Auto. In June 2021, the FSRA issued a directive in terms of which it directed Status Capital to disinvest the investments it made with SDFF and SAM.

The aforesaid companies unlawfully refused to comply with the FSRA’s June Directive and also stopped making monthly interest payments to the applicant. Auto submitted that SDFF and SAM’s alleged unlawful refusal to comply with the June directive and their obligations in terms of the debenture agreements caused liquidity problems for Status Capital. In the filed papers, Auto narrated to the court that the building society invested about E100 million in SDFF and SAM. He alleged that the person who controls these companies is Van Niekerk.

“He is also the alleged mastermind behind Ecsponent Eswatini Limited, which has caused innocent members of the public to lose hundreds of millions of Emalangeni.” “Damning records and documents have been received which show that the beneficial owner of SDFF is Mr Van Niekerk, a company, which was used by the SDFF, as a vehicle to commit fraud and embezzlement, and that he has been making or facilitating payments to certain key players at the FSRA as bribes,” Auto alleged. The veracity of these allegations is still to be tested in court. FSRA is yet to file answering papers. Status Capital is represented by Phesheya Maphalala of S.V. Mdladla and Associates in the matter.

The application was filed ex parte (without serving the respondents). However, the court directed that the respondents be served with the papers. He informed the court that those are Senzo Hlatshwayo, who is the Chairman of the FSRA, and Joel Dlamini, who is a member of the FSRA’s Board of Directors. According to Auto, the applicant brought applications to liquidate SDFF and SAM to recover the funds it had invested with these companies.

Possible

The FSRA, however, that may be possible, according to Auto, opposed the liquidation application of SDFF and communicated to Status Capital’s lawyers that it would allegedly destroy the building society by placing it under curatorship or liquidation if it persisted with the liquidation application. Status Capital has not withdrawn the liquidation application, and the FSRA, as it has promised, allegedly took several unlawful steps to destroy the former, despite its calls for assistance by the regulator.

“The unlawful steps taken by the FSRA are to issue unlawful directives, placing restrictions on the applicant’s licenses and appointing a curator for the applicant without making any rules regarding the powers, functions and duties of the curator as is required in terms of Section 71(2) of the FSRA Act. The only thing left to do for the FSRA is to place the applicant under liquidation,” submitted Auto. He argued that the alleged threats of FSRA were made on December 4, 2024, at the hearing of the SDFF liquidation application after the court had expressed serious concerns about the motives behind FSRA opposing the liquidation application. He alleged that FSRA did not dispute its threats to destroy Status Capital. Auto said, instead, FSRA purportedly followed through on the threats.

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